BOULDER — In an on-field ceremony Thursday night between the first and second quarters of Colorado’s football game vs. Arizona State at Folsom Field, the CU men’s basketball team will receive its Pac-12 Tournament Champion rings.

In March, CU won the inuagural Pac-12 Tournament title in Los Angeles. By winning the league tournament, the Buffs earned an automatic bid to play in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2003. CU defeated UNLV in its first game before losing to Baylor.

Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott is scheduled to participate in the ceremony.

Comments Off on During Thursday night’s football game, Colorado hoopsters to get rings

SPOKANE, WASH. — First-year Washington State coach Mike Leach makes it a policy to never discuss injuries, and this week he even ridiculed sports journalists who ask about them.

So there is no word coming from the WSU camp whether senior quarterback Jeff Tuel (knee) will be ready to play in Saturday’s Pac-12 opener against Colorado in Pullman, Wash.

But longtime sports columnist John Blanchette of the Spokane Spokesman-Review commented on the matter, tongue in cheek:

“So apparently quarterback Jeff Tuel lost his starting job last week because he was inept, was late for the team bus, flunked a quiz or hijacked a hot dog cart for a joyride down Terrell Mall,” Blanchette wrote.

Everyone always compares first-year coaches and their progress. How about we check up on second-year coaches? For Colorado, as you can imagine, it isn’t pretty.

Jon Embree is one of 21 coaches in their second year at their school. He is the only one who’s 0-3. Think he had a tough rebuilding project? How about Minnesota’s Jerry Kill? The Gophers were picked 11th in the Big Ten, only ahead of Indiana, and are 3-0. OK, they won at UNLV and at home against New Hampshire, an FCS school, and Western Michigan.

But doesn’t that compare to Colorado State, Sacramento State and Fresno State?

Washington State — Sophomore Connor Halliday is the likely starter at quarterback against UNLV Friday. Senior Jeff Tuel (knee) did some light jogging but did not take snaps with No. 1 offense this week. Halliday showed potential last year by throwing for 494 yards in upset of Arizona State. He couldn’t compete for starting job in spring because of lacerated liver suffered against Utah: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2012/sep/12/wsu-qb-halliday-may-draw-start-against-unlv/.

Stanford — San Jose Mercury News columnist Tim Kawakami on how coaches David Shaw and Lane Kiffin have made Stanford-USC a friendlier rivalry: http://www.mercurynews.com/tim-kawakami/ci_21527684/tim-kawakami-stanford-usc-rivalry-more-friendly.

Oregon — Ducks trying to find ways to get De’Anthony Thomas, all-Pac 12 kick returner, to return his first kickoff this season: http://www2.registerguard.com/cms/index.php/duck-football/comments/ducks-trying-to-find-ways-to-get-dat-kickoff-return-opportunities/.

Oregon State — Sophomore running back Malcolm Agnew not letting backup status get him down as he rushed for 45 yards against Wisconsin: http://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/index.ssf/2012/09/oregon_state_football_malcolm_7.html.

Washington — Frustrated Keith Price has long meeting with coach Steve Sarkisian after two games with only one touchdown pass: http://seattletimes.com/html/huskyfootball/2019139211_huskyfootball13.html.

Utah — Quarterback Jordan Wynn leaves game with no regrets after injury that likely require a fourth surgery on his shoulders. A fourth-year junior, he had a 14-7 record and stands eighth on the school’s career passing list with 4,637 yards on 60-percent passing. His departure puts the job up between senior Jon Hays, Wynn’s replacement last year, and ballyhooed true freshman Travis Wilson: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/utes/54873974-89/wynn-utah-football-career.html.csp?page=1.

Arizona State — Arizona Republic columnist Dan Bickley on Deantre Lewis’ move from tailback to defense almost two years after getting shot by a random bullet in Riverside, Calif: http://www.azcentral.com/sports/asu/articles/20120911football-player-deantre-lewis-selfless-act-arizona-state-isnt-all-sacrifice-its-chance-heal.html.

Arizona — John Bonano bounces back with three field goals against Oklahoma State after missing two against Toledo: http://azstarnet.com/sports/football/college/wildcats/arizona-football-john-bonano-s-big-rebound/article_1594680b-80ee-5fea-9706-43582cf4cb16.html.

UCLA — Houston is 0-2 but quarterback Dave Piland picking up where he left off in 2010 heading into Saturday’s UCLA game: http://www.latimes.com/sports/college/football/la-sp-piland-houston-ucla-20120912,0,6432903.story.

USC — It’s the last chance for many Trojans to beat Stanford: http://www.latimes.com/sports/college/usc/la-sp-0912-usc-football-20120912,0,145973.story.

California — Golden Bears seek tough bounce back at No. 12 Ohio State which has won 59 straight non-conference home games against unranked teams: http://www.insidebayarea.com/cal-bears/ci_21517243/cal-loses-offensive-lineman-matt-summers-gavin-ohio.

Oregon — Backups ready to fill in for All-American safety John Boyett and guard Carson York, both out for the year with knee injuries: http://www.registerguard.com/web/sports/28731085-41/boyett-patterson-safety-jackson-oregon.html.csp.

Washington — Seattle Times’ Bob Condotta blogs a poll question: Are you more concerned about season after blowout loss at LSU?: http://seattletimes.com/html/huskyfootballblog/2019127297_tonights_poll_—_are_you_more.html.

Washington State — Safety Deone Bucannon suspended for first half of Friday’s UNLV game for late hit to head on Eastern Washington receiver Greg Herd who suffered a concussion: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2012/sep/11/pac-12-suspends-wsus-bucannon-one-half/.

Comments Off on Pac-12 Roundup: Utah QB Jordan Wynn has no regrets leaving game eyeing a fourth shoulder surgery

Utah: Jon Hays is expected to start at quarterback against BYU. Injured Jordan Wynn questionable after three sacks in 27-20 overtime loss at Utah State. Coach Kyle Whittingham hinting about changes on the offensive line: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/utes/54860506-89/utah-utes-byu-wynn.html.csp.

Arizona — Cornerback Jonathan McKnight’s 48-yard pick six was one of four turnovers sparking Wildcats’ upset of Oklahoma State: http://azstarnet.com/sports/football/college/wildcats/arizona-football-interception-makes-wildcats-mcknight/article_c1135f9e-2d7b-5dde-8076-5ba33c250685.html.

Arizona State — New ASU offense seventh nationally in scoring (54 ppg), third in pass efficiency and averaging 7.7 yards per game. Caution: The two wins were over Northern Arizona, an FCS team, and an Illinois team missing star quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase: http://www.azcentral.com/sports/asu/articles/20120909arizona-states-offense-clicking-all-cylinders.html.

USC — Coach Lane Kiffin unconcerned about drop from No. 2 to No. 3 in coaches’ poll after a second straight win. It remained No. 2 in AP poll: http://www.latimes.com/sports/college/usc/la-sp-usc-football-20120910,0,5416547.story.

California — Golden Bears’ 50-31 win over Southern Utah not encouraging after leading FCS school only 20-17 in fourth quarter and committing two turnovers and 10 penalties in first half: http://www.insidebayarea.com/cal-bears/ci_21498949/cal-overcames-early-mistakes-beat-southern-utah.

Oregon — Young offense reason for inconsistencies with 85 points in two first halves and 14 in two second halves: http://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/index.ssf/2012/09/ducks_insider_youth_on_oregons.html.

Oregon State — Beavers (1-0) gain confidence with upset of Wisconsin but how long can it last with bye this weekend?: http://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/index.ssf/2012/09/beavers_insider_which_comes_fi.html.

Washington State — Quarterback Jeff Tuel has leg injury and may give way to sophomore Connor Halliday at UNLV: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2012/sep/09/cougars-prepare-unlv-not-knowing-tuels-status/.

Comments Off on Pac-12 Roundup: QB Jon Hays expected to start for Utah against BYU

In 2011, the Mountain West had its own dedicated network to air football games. But even then, Colorado State’s eight games on The Mtn. were difficult to find. Some Colorado viewers got the channel as part of their cable packages and many didn’t.

As the MW shuffled its ranks, the network was scuttled in June, leaving teams like the Rams without a regular TV outlet.

But who needs a network anyway? The Rams on Monday announced they had reached a broadcast agreement with Denver’s KUSA that will land CSU on over-the-air KTVD Channel 20 for seven games this season. Channel 20 is the sister station of KUSA-9 and is included on Comcast, DirecTV and Dish standard packages.

*** CU did not commit a turnover during the first six minutes of the game but eventually registered a season-high 23 turnovers.

*** The top rebounders in Thursday’s NCAA Tournament games were from the state of Colorado, with Colorado State’s Pierce Hornung getting 17 in the loss to Murray State in Louisville, Ky., and CU’s Andre Roberson snagging 16 against UNLV. Marquette’s Joe Crowder matched Roberson’s total in a win over BYU.

ALBUQUERQUE — Here’s what Colorado players were saying late Thursday night after the 68-64 win by No. 11 seed Colorado over 6-seed UNLV in a South Regional opener at The Pit:

ANDRE ROBERSON:

“(Carlon Brown’s spectacular windmill dunk with 2:27 left) gave us energy, we feed off it.”

“The crowd was great. They came all the way from Colorado to support us, so it always feels great that we know they have our backs.”

On Baylor: “They’re long, athletic and they sit in a 2-3 zone. So I feel like one thing we can do is offensive rebound. It’s hard for them to rebound out of the zone. Just mix it up in there against them. They get out running transition. They’re a great team overall. I just feel like we’ll take on the challenge.”

ASKIA BOOKER

On Brown’s dunk: “That’s a big confidence booster. When you see your teammate go up there with 2 minutes left and throw the ball down like that, I think it gets the crowd into it as well, which builds a little more momentum. I think that helped a lot.”

CARLON BROWN

On limiting UNLV scorers Chace Stanback (3-of-12) and Mike Moser (4-of-15) to poor shooting nights: “With Chace, we just knew we had to run him off the 3-point line because he’s comfortable pulling off the transition and off the jab step. So I tried to do my best job of crowding him. With Moser, Andre (Roberson) did a great job of crowding him and making sure he didn’t get offensive rebounds.”

ALBUQUERQUE — Speaking to reporters a day before Colorado is to face UNLV in the Buffs’ first NCAA Tournament game since 2003, Boyle was asked if the Running Rebels remind him of any Pac-12 team.

“I don’t think there’s one team,” Boyle said Wednesday, “but as I look in our league in the Pac-12, I see a team with Oregon State’s athleticism and size from the back court to the front court.

“I see a team with Oregon’s ability to shoot the ball from a lot of different spots on the floor. So it’s kind of a combination between Oregon and Oregon State.

“But I see a (UNLV) team that’s skilled maybe more than Oregon State is, and they’re probably more athletic than Oregon is. But they shoot the 3-ball like Oregon does. Two pretty tough things to deal with.”

Sunday night and Monday morning were filled with film study for coaches across the nation whose teams will play in this week’s NCAA Tournament. Colorado State’s Tim Miles and Murray State’s Steve Prohm have already spent countless hours studying the other’s team.

These are Prohm’s initial thoughts on Colorado State in advance of Thursday morning’s NCAA Tournament game between the sixth-seeded Racers and 11th-seeded Rams.

“Starting to get a good feel for them, they are a very good basketball team. We’re going to have to play extremely well to beat them. They shoot the basketball extremely well. We defend the 3-point line extremely well all season long and we’re going to have to do that Thursday to beat Colorado State. All of four of their guards shoot the basketball extremely well. They don’t put a guard out there that doesn’t make threes at a high percentage.

We’re going to have to defensive-rebound well. We’re going to have to contain them from the 3-point line, we’re going to have to be great in transition. We’re going to have to play very well. They come out of a great league. They are used to playing very athletic teams – San Diego State, UNLV, New Mexico. So, they’re very, very battle-tested and coach Miles is a very good coach.”

Follow Chris Dempsey on Twitter @dempseypost or email him at cdempsey@denverpost.com

Comments Off on Opponent’s view: Murray State coach Steve Prohm impressed with CSU

BOULDER — About to conduct his first practice in preparation for Colorado’s first NCAA Tournament game in nine years, CU coach Tad Boyle said Monday that reserve guard Sabatino Chen will be play in Thursday night’s game against UNLV in Albuquerque.

Chen, a junior, sprained an ankle early against Oregon — CU’s second of four games at the Pac-12 tournament last week in Los Angeles. He did not play against California or in the title game vs. Arizona.

“Sabatino needed to be off the ankle for a few days,” Boyle said, “but he’ll be ready to go for Thursday.”

Colorado, as a No. 11 seed, learned it will face No. 6 UNLV on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Mountain West team should be familiar to Front Range fans of CSU. But for Buffs fans focused on the Pac-12, here’s a look at the Rebels:

UNLV (26-8, 9-5)

Location: Las VegasConference: Mountain West; lost in MW tournament semifinals to New Mexico.

Coach: Dave Rice, first year as head coach after 18 years as an assistant, most recently at Brigham Young University. Was a reserve on UNLV’s 1990 national championship team.

There is value to playing tough competition. The NCAA Tournament selection committee places significant emphasis on it in its annual ‘is-this-team-in-or-is-it-out’ decision-making process, filling the field of participants.

CSU coach Tim Miles planned accordingly this season by scheduling with the NCAA Tournament in mind, understanding how tough it might be for his short-handed team with opponents like Duke, Southern Miss and Northern Iowa all on it. The Mountain West conference, with pacesetters in San Diego State, UNLV and New Mexico, kept the heat on his bunch high but helped further, particularly as his team pulled out upset after upset after upset.

As a result, his team goes into this week’s MW Tournament in good in NCAA Tournament footing. Colorado State finished the regular season with a 19-10 record, 8-6 in Mountain West play. They began the week with an RPI of 21 and the Rams’ strength of schedule is in the top 10 in the nation. They have two wins over RPI top-25 teams and another over an RPI top-50 team and are 6-4 in their last 10 games.

LAS VEGAS – If TCU’s players take any cues from their fiery coach, Jim Christian, Colorado State better come in the right state of mind in its Mountain West conference tournament opener against the Horned Frogs.

Here’s why: The Hoover Dam-sized chip Christian, and his team, are carrying into the first-round contest.

“TCU doesn’t get enough credit,” Christian said. “It’s almost fluky in some people’s eyes when we win a game – they must have played bad, the other team. No, TCU played pretty good basketball this year.”

He’s right. His team did.

Picked to finish seventh, the Horned Frogs instead finished fifth, going 7-7 in conference play with wins over UNLV and San Diego State along the way. In non-conference games they scored an upset over Virginia, one of the better teams in the ACC, which spent the majority of the season ranked in the Top 25.

If Colorado State is to win, the first thing its players must not take for granted is the intensity they’ll need from the opening tip. Motivated teams are dangerous ones, and the Horned Frogs firmly believe they’ve been disrespected all year long, and that they are not only here to win the tournament but to dispel a reputation of being a doormat along the way.

“We had our opportunities to compete for the championship in this league, just like a lot of teams when they look at their schedule,” said Christian, whose team comes into the game on a two-game losing streak. “We don’t feel like that we’re far off the pace with anybody – a possession here, a defensive stop here, a big shot here and we could have been one of the teams right there.”

It can be argued no two teams played closer contests against each other than Colorado State and Texas Christian did this season.

In their two games, the average margin of victory was five points. Colorado State won a double overtime thriller, 95-89 on Jan. 14. TCU returned the favor with a 75-71 win in Fort Worth on Feb. 11.

TCU nailed 24 3-pointers in the two games combined, evenly split at 12 apiece, something CSU coach Tim Miles knows his team can’t allow if it is to win and advance.

“By design we’re a team that tries to take away your inside play, your highest-percentage shots. But the value out-weighs that at times, and you can’t let a team get easy, quality looks,” Miles said. “TCU has been able to do that better than anybody against us all year. There’s obviously some schematic changes we’ve got to look at this week. If they go out there and make 10, 12 threes again, we’re probably not beating them.”

Speaking of defense, TCU played it…when it wanted to.

In a stretch of four wins in five games late in the season – except for an overtime shootout against UNLV – TCU played solid on the defensive end. That hasn’t always been the case. The Horned Frogs rank last in the Mountain West in points against, allowing 70.8 points per game. CSU, incidentally, is second-to-last allowing 68.3 points per contest.

According to Christian, his team’s defensive effort is his main concern. TCU was next-to-last in the conference in scoring margin (+1.1), however it was third in steals (7.0), second in forced turnovers (13.6) and second in turnover margin (+2.10).

“We have to be consistent on the defensive end of the floor,” he said. “The last game against San Diego State we played awful defense in the first half and very good defense in the second half. It got us back in the game. So, if we can become a consistent defensive team and shoot the ball well, we’ve proven we can beat anybody in the league. If we don’t, it’s going to be difficult for us.”

FORT COLLINS – It might not be a stretch to call tonight’s contest against UNLV the biggest game in the coach Tim Miles era at Colorado State. Yep, the stakes are that large.

On the line is a real chance to get to more solid footing in the NCAA Tournament chase. Whether the Rams are in or out right now depends on the prognosticator, but this one fact can’t be disputed: They are in the thick of the race.

Working in CSU’s favor are these factors (at the beginning of this week):

– An RPI of 27, second-best in the MWC
– A strength-of-schedule rating in the top five in the nation
– Two wins over RPI top 50 teams
– A Mountain West conference RPI of fifth

Working against CSU are these factors (also at the beginning of this week):

– A conference road record of 0-6
– A ‘last 10 games’ record of 4-6
– Fourteen of 16 Division wins against teams with an RPI of 76 or worse

A win tonight puts more distance between the good and the bad for CSU. And in a nationwide scramble to March Madness that changes by the day, the Rams need all of the wins they can get, particularly against teams that can continue to boost their RPI, like UNLV, which comes to Fort Collins ranked 17th in both the Associated Press and coaches polls.

UNLV beat the Rams 82-63 in Las Vegas back on Feb. 1. After a good start, CSU faltered as the pace quickened and the Runnin’ Rebels, well, ran the Rams straight out of the gym. The two flash-point stats of the game were points off of turnovers – UNLV scored 17 points off of 12 CSU miscues – and fast break points where UNLV outscored CSU 27-2.

“First of all, you’ve got to take care of the ball,” CSU guard Wes Eikmeier said. “When you play a good team like UNLV you’ve got to minimize your mistakes. We didn’t make that many the first time, but the ones we did make they capitalized on, big-time. It turns a five-point into a 10-point game real quick against them. So, minimize mistakes and hopefully make it a half court game.”

The Rams’ loss in the first matchup came essentially in an 8-minute stretch in the first half and a 15-minute stretch in the second. The teams were tied at 19 with 11:35 left in the first half. Then, UNLV hit the Rams with a 22-9 run to take a 13-point lead with 2:15 left in the first half. The Rebels took that 13-point lead into halftime.

In the second half, CSU cut the lead to 48-46 at the 17:02 mark. But when the clock read 2:33, UNLV had swarmed the Rams under with a 30-10 run to put the game out of reach with a 22-point advantage.

“They are great in transition and their defensive pressure is outstanding,” said Miles, who added that “you just have to keep the ball moving” to stand a chance against the immense pressure UNLV puts on its opponents. CSU has worked in 4-on-6 and 4-on-7 situations in practice this week to prepare for UNLV’s various presses.

Though UNLV has won in each of the last two times it has visited Moby Arena, there is a silver lining for CSU in how the Rebels have played away from Las Vegas this season. All six of the Rebels’ losses have come away from home, four of them in the MWC including a couple of head-scratchers at Wyoming and at Texas Christian. Air Force took the Runnin’ Rebels to overtime before losing by two points.

“They’ve been a little vulnerable on the road in the conference…gee…like a lot of teams,” said Miles with a sheepish grin, knowing his team fits firmly into the road struggles category. “And so, I think the way they’ve played at the Thomas & Mack might be a little different than what they’ve played on the road. So, we have to use our crowd energy, too, and get that going for us.”

Follow Chris Dempsey on Twitter @dempseypost or email him at cdempsey@denverpost.com

Comments Off on The enormous NCAA Tournament value a win over UNLV would be for CSU

The only seniors on the Colorado men’s basketball team, 6-6 forward Will Bell and 5-11 Kaipo Sabas, will be honored Wednesday night during “Senior Night” activities in conjunction with CSU’s final regular-season home game — 8 p.m. against UNLV, which is ranked No. 17 in the coaches poll.

Their success stories could help in-state recruiting because they are locals, CSU coach Tim Miles said Monday on the Mountain West Conference teleconference. Bell played at Sand Creek High School in Colorado Springs and then at Northeastern (Colo.) Junior College in Sterling; Sabas is from Fort Collins (Rocky Mountain High School) and played junior-college hoops at Laramie County CC in Cheyenne, Wyo.

Both arrived at CSU as walkons and since earned a scholarship and even starting roles.

“I don’t there’s any question it helps,” Miles said of in-state recruiting. “But the attraction to Colorado State as a university and the attraction of Rams basketball is going to be there anyway. But these two guys are committed to help take our program to a different level.

“Kaipo and Will have been amazing for us,” Miles added. “They both came in as non-scholarship players, junior-college players from Region 9, both Colorado kids — Kaipo from in town (Fort Collins), Will from Colorado Springs.

“You talk about being invested in Colorado State, in our athletic department, in our basketball program — these guys have come in and been the epitome of that. They’ve worked hard to earn scholarships, and now they have worked into starting roles and become bonafide, good Mountain West players. Those are success stories that everybody likes to see.”

Terry Frei graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in the Denver area and has degrees in history and journalism from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He worked for the Rocky Mountain News while attending CU and joined the Post staff after graduation. He has also worked at the Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and The Sporting News. His seventh book, March 1939: Before the Madness, was issued in February 2014.